山科の宮の草木と君ならば
我はしづくに濡るばかりなり
我はしづくに濡るばかりなり
- Roma-ji
-
Yamashina no miya no kusaki to kimi naraba ware wa shizuku ni nuru bakari nari
- English Translation
-
If you should become
the grass and trees of the tomb
at Yamashina,
I would be the one who is
only drenched by their dripping dew
- Meaning
- If you were to become the grass and trees of the tomb at Yamashina, I would do nothing but be soaked by the drops that fall from them.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1390
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that if his friend becomes the grass and trees of the Yamashina tomb, he himself will only be drenched by their drops. Answering the wish to become the plants of the tomb, he replies that he would be soaked by the drops falling from them, that is, by tears, sharing in the mourning for the late emperor.
It is the reply to the preceding poem by the Sanjō Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Sadakata.
The poet, "Lord Kanesuke," is Fujiwara no Kanesuke. A son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto, he rose to Middle Counselor. Called the Tsutsumi Middle Counselor for his mansion on the banks of the Kamo River, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. He was the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu, and the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Mikanohara wakite nagaruru Izumigawa."
The first line, "Yamashina no," repeats the third line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "miya no kusaki to," means "the grass and trees of the tomb," repeating the preceding poem's fourth line.
The third line, "kimi naraba," means "if you should become."
The fourth line, "ware wa shizuku ni," means "I, by the drops," overlaying the drops from the plants with tears.
The last line, "nuru bakari nari," means "would only be drenched."
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kanesuke
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hakanakute yo ni furu yori wa Yamashina no miya no kusaki to naramashi mono o
- Next Poem
-
Wakarenishi hodo o hate to mo omooezu koishiki koto no kagiri nakereba